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Placement exclusions

Placement exclusions are lists of websites, apps, YouTube channels and videos where a Google Ads account or campaign doesn't show its ads.

How it works

A placement is a place outside Google’s search results where an ad can appear: a website, an app, a YouTube channel or a video. You can set exclusions for an ad group, a campaign or the whole account. A manager account can share one list with its client accounts.

Google’s API documentation lists no placement setting for a Performance Max campaign itself: exclusions reach it from the account level, where they apply to every campaign. Search and Shopping results aren’t placements, so exclusions don’t affect them.

If most of a store’s Performance Max budget goes to Shopping, exclusions can only affect the share spent on Display, YouTube and other channels. The channel performance report shows that share. Our guide to placement exclusions in Performance Max covers what a store can block and at what level.

Where you see it

The Channel performance page of a Performance Max campaign links to placement reports for Display and YouTube. In the Google Ads API, the Performance Max placement view lists websites, apps and YouTube videos where the ads appeared, with impressions as the only metric.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop spends 40,000 a month on Performance Max: 37,000 on Google Search, including Shopping ads, and 3,000 on Display and YouTube. The placement report shows a children’s game app near the top by impressions, and the shop excludes it at account level. The exclusion can affect at most the 3,000, or 7.5% of spend.

Not to be confused with

  • Negative keywords — exclude searches, not websites, apps and videos.
  • Channel controls — decide whether a Demand Gen ad group shows ads on a whole channel, such as YouTube. A placement exclusion works at a finer level: one website, app, YouTube channel or video.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “The placement report shows which sites wasted the budget.” Right: the Performance Max placement data has impressions only. It shows where ads appeared, not what each placement cost or brought in.
  • Wrong: “Placement exclusions will cut spend on Shopping ads that don’t sell.” Right: Shopping results aren’t placements. In the example, exclusions reach only the 3,000 spent on Display and YouTube.

Sources